Thursday, December 18, 2014

At Christmas We...go to parties!

So a month or so ago, THE MAN announced that we were invited to attend his Christmas Party for work. Since he is part of the staff, that meant we were going to hang out with all the important people. Oh and by the way, we needed to bring a white elephant gift. I considered asking if he really wanted to bring me for his own sake, not mine.

I really like a good party. What is there not to love about a party that quite possibly will involve desserts and wine! I also knew I had to be on my best behavior seeing how I was just the wife. Sometimes I find that difficult...add in wine....might be impossible?

Anyhow, THE MAN thought we should bring a bottle of wine for the gift. I thought that sounded lame and that we could be more creative. I shopped the Restore and came home with this ginormous pewter ice bucket. I then added some small bottles of Jack, two glasses, two cokes, chocolate, a pretty handmade bow, and a card calling it a Holiday Survival Kit.

Too bad I don't have a photo. I took half a dozen and sadly I can't find them. In fact this photo was one I took off Ebay. (Turns out my $10 Ice Bucket purchase is really worth a lot more, who knew!) I can tell you that I also used pewter cleaner so my bucket was wayyyy shinier.

Anyway I digress. We brought a good gift. Some other dude brought a singing snowman (Potty Pal?) holding a plunger. Another present was the Ove Glove which allows you to take food out of your oven wearing a glove. At one point in the party I wanted to get up and bash the snowman, but I am pretty sure that would have been bad form.

Anyhow, the best present I spotted aside from wanting my own gift back was the coffee gift card the most senor staff person had. Yes I stole it. (hello, rules of the game people!)

When the room went silent I realized perhaps I should have gone for the snowman instead if only to put it out of it's misery...I am pretty good at the evil eye, but not as good as someone who bosses and sasses a boat load of people for a living.

Thankfully at the end someone suggested nicely that THE MAN who was complaining bitterly about the coffee gift card I choose be allowed to swap out for the olive oil he supposedly really wanted. So, Ms. Senior Staff got her card back.

I thought it would be bigger...Spoken by women around the world and most recently texted to me by my sister in law when she saw my tree.

I on the other hand had a really good idea how short my tree would be. Little Gram Mero is only four feet tall and one hairy eye ball of hers hits you mid chest...

This is of course why I had to have a tall tree topper and used the treestand tipped upside down for my fake tree experiment. She needed a little boostie...

First let me say publicly I do hope my parents don't disown me. They just got over the great tattoo incident of 2012. They grow Christmas trees for a living. So owning a fake tree...even if it is very small is probaby not cool. Add in the fact it's Ombre....black and white...good luck to me!

My Christmas tree buying budget was very low from the theory I didn't know if I'd even LIKE a fake tree. So $25 for the tree, $10 in frosting and then I made my own icicles. I figured if I really hated it, I could always donate it.

I honestly like it best NOT decorated. Isn't that odd?

But I'm in enjoying it now with all my icicles...

So pretty with all the lights.

From a laying on the floor position...

And speaking of pretty lights...check out my new red glass tumbler that came with battery operated lights...

Patting myself on the back for seeing this through to the end! The big reveal is tomorrow though! All of them together!

Linda's tag is a masterpiece, which makes perfect sense since she has to wait a whole entire year nearly for the next challenge.

The window, the wreath, the wood grain, and the red all inspired me. I had plans of pulling out a die and making my own wreath, but remembered that for greenery I had some vintage plastic greenery from the second hand store.

After building my snowflake (Can you see it?) I used that green yellow greenery & some pine with berries under it in a wreath like fashion.

I then pulled out that wood frame that was window like to showcase my woodland Santa image. (again with the wood theme!)

Crystals were added to all four corners of the frame because I was determined to use them...

And yes Santa has bubbles on his face. Getting the while thing to balance was hard enough...much less popping the bubbles in the liquid glass...

What you might ask is that red star mounted on? Well a tree topper of course! In a previous lifetime it was a very weird gold color. You don't believe me? Spray paint fixes most everything.

Came home with the pipe cleaners, icky gold tree topper, and red mesh from the second hand store for less than $10.

You can't tell, but that red star glitter ornament was just an extra I had & using a drill, I made a hole at the bottom so I could mount the star on the topper. Hot glue holds them together nicely.

Now, I can't wait to show you my topper & the rest of my ornaments all in one place tomorrow!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Have you ever made your own bow? I hadn't either until I tried this super easy Cutting Cafe Gift Bow Template! I'm in love with the fact that you can crimp your paper to make the edges spiky like mine AND you can match your project!

So, inside the box is this pretty little slate heart made for my small friend Regan.

I went with yummy papers for my bow and some of the same papers behind my gingerbread graphic!

The graphic which was a gift from Visions of Sugar Plums & is straight from Studio Shine Vintage! Love it!

I am pretty sure my little friend Regan will love it too. She came to our office party the other day which was a early before work breakfast party and shared a donut with me. She confessed that her last donut was partially eaten by her Dad. She seemed angry and I tried to explain it was probably just Daddy Tax. I am not sure she was buying it...

So, Regan here is a sweet treat that can't be eaten by your Daddy! I even added your name with stickers just in case he gets confused!

One last photo of my bow so you can see where I glittered up the edges and my trick...I used a green brad to hold all the pieces in place and then added that flower gem. Worked a treat!

Monday, December 15, 2014

We own one board game at Pratt Inc. and that is Monopoly. It's not even the fancy version, just the plain jane play for hours variety.

The oldest LOVES the game while the rest of us might be talked into playing if there are treats involved like popcorn and government cash subsidies when we are broke. It's kinda our version of the game, but also involves playing hard and buying as much as you can as fast as you can in order to lose as soon as possible. (This never works for me, occasionally I win sadly)

Lexi happily talked her younger cousins and Grandfather into a game over Thanksgiving. We of course trained all participants in the Pratt Inc. version.

It's a pretty CAS layout for me. Not many layers, minimal flowers and a rub-on which isn't my normal fare. As I put the page together, my sister in law gave me the hairy eyeball from across the dining room table. Evidently I was a little too quick for her liking!

Recently I purchased a new scrapbook and had 25 or so layouts that needed to be put away. While I was getting that book done, I took inventory and realised that over the course of the last 14 or so years of scrapping, I had probably made upwards of 1000 plus pages. I guess you learn some tricks when you turn into crazy scrap lady like me. ;-)

Hope you get a chance to hang with us at Another Freaking Scrappy...even if it's a super CAS layout that is super quick. We all know how busy this time of year is!

Friday, December 12, 2014

We moved to a party town. No just kidding. That was the last town that had four colleges within close proximity! I should say Christmas Party town!

For people bad at Christmas, this is a good and bad thing. The good part is that you get in the holiday spirit nice and early. Things start immediately after Thanksgiving with a big ole Glass Christmas House in the middle of Market Street & a beautiful Santa. (The bad part...you might not WANT to get in the spirit early...just ask THE MAN who did not get his sparkle on.)

Those are my Sistah In Law's kids. Hers willingly took a photo with Santa (it is possible I either bribed them, threatened them or both, but one doesn't not give up secrets like that).

The evening progressed with the Parade of Lights where they cover things like Tractors, Fire Trucks, Floats, and cars in Christmas Lights.

We lasted half of the parade until we got too cold and made a beeline for heated seats and the fireplace at home.

This past weekend I went to Sparkle. They shut down the entire Market Street and set up food vendors, have horse drawn carriage rides, and train rides. THE MAN who admits that he has trouble with Christmas also had a bad case of the hangry, so it was not the longest visit. Did I mention it was cold too? ;-)

He did drive me around trying to get a better photo of the eight story C Building, where they are creative with their decorating. I happen to know a guy who sits near the very top of the letter O in Noel. I told him he was a rock star. He divulged it involves sticky notes on what lights to leave on and what ones to turn off...

Of course then there is the Glass Museum which is very near the Noel Building. Check out this tree. Again more bribes may have been involved with this. My brother in law and I checked...those ornaments are zip tied on, thankfully....

Well peeps, I do hope you have enjoyed a small Christmas stroll around our town without freezing your butt off!

Her awesome metallic tag really made me happy! I softened mine up with some glitter, but I really loved the pop of turquoise! I added some of that color to mine too, but my crinkle ribbon came out a bit more green....

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A close up so you can see that I really do have some turquoise...and star glitter!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

So yesterday I threw down a hint that we were going away for the holidays....here is another!

Yes, I have been making backgrounds for layouts for our trip already! My sister in law wanted to scrap for Thanksgiving and I made these in short order!

They are pretty simple, yet grungy...I love doing vacation pages using a kit so the papers match but yet are all individual.

I am using a paper kit from Close to My Heart called Seaside that I bought specifically for our trip. Sadly this company doesn't do much elsewhere than the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. I hate it when my friends can't get cool stuff! ;-)

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

A few years back and after Christmas I worked on this project. Like my blog post from then says, it nearly did me in. Thankfully I rallied, spray painted the entire thing black and got it done.

So, of course we can enjoy it today.

Lexi (our resident sweet tooth) is the first one to remind Luke to get the box out and open it before school. They then carefully divide the treats (there is some bartering since I picked things one might like more than the other) and then off to school they go.

The little envelopes I used to tuck promises in weren't filled out this year.

Like Lexi said, lets be real here Mom. Someone says lets make cookies and you are making cookies. So what's the point?

We are not counting down to Christmas though...we are counting down to a TRIP that involves being away during the holidays. Everyone is really excited! More on that later, but I can say we are getting out the warm weather clothing!

And back to my cards! They were done before Thanksgiving! Now to get them written, stuffed in envelopes with a cool kid photos, and addressed!

But, I digress!

Really what prompted me to make this particular card was large chunks of extra kraft paper from various projects that I spent several episodes of Hart of Dixie embossing in my Big Shot....not to mention a never ending supply of paper scraps!

I am pretty pleased with them. I am also excited as they are relatively flat...so hopefully they will mail well.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Sometimes decorating the package is just as much fun as making the gift! This gold sparkle box NEEDED a snowman! It's going to be mailed soon to some special little people I know with something cool inside.

Between the red, the holly and those delicious gems, I was in love with this tag from the start. What really got my though was that green patina color!

I used a little of that green patina color on the metal charm frame and again on my evergreen. Of course the various reds also caught my eye. Found myself adding red gems, a red crinkle bow, and a piece of red doily to the back.

This little red sparkly lantern was in the scratch and dent section at a local box store for a whole dollar. Parts of the red glitter was chipping off, the inside lantern part was empty and it basically begged for my help.

I added gold spray paint to various corners for a cool double sparkle, snow to the edges, a little green misted Tim Holtz tree, some mica flakes to the bottom, & a prancing reindeer covered in liquid glass! The application of the liquid glass made my little die cut curl a bit and it makes me think he's dancing a Merry Little Reindeer Dance!

Of course I had to add a Merry badge to the top of my red glitter snowflake!

Just comment on this post to win! If I pull your name, I'll pop this into the mail right off so you'll get some happy mail!

To participate in the shop giveaways and ChouxChoux Paper Art giveaways, you will need to comment on Lori's blog letting her know you want to win.

She will add your name to the "hat." You also get your name added for every comment you leave on the participating blogs.

I have a confession. Sometimes Christmas makes me wonky! No honest it does. Making a list & checking it twice helps, but I also still get crazy.

This year I came up with a small little plan to help me at least with my smaller Christmas crafts & in the process used up some scrapbook paper I've had in my stash for ages!

First I started with a plan metal suitcase I picked up while out junking & spray painted burgundy.

Then I attacked it with all the little scraps of Christmas paper I had! Well, I had one bigger sheet that had been hanging out for ages with that jingle bell graphic...since the J was cut off, I had to add a huge snowflake to make up for it...

Various patterns of washi tape, some vintage sheet music, splatters, gem arrows, gold paint, and a gold metal NOEL that was in my stash for ages helped me bling up this suitcase.

The little twig bird on top that helps hold up the handle for display was a find at a craft store. She is nesting on a vintage doily!

All of that outside stuff is just the eye candy...what this suitcase does is HOLD STUFF! There are a bunch of mostly finished Christmas cards on the side, a pile of bling to make ornaments, and some finished ones on the bottom! It's great to have it all in one place tucked away.

Now, back to the hop! To participate in the shop giveaways and ChouxChoux Paper Art
giveaways, you will need to comment on Lori's blog letting her know you want to
win.

She will add your name to the "hat." You also get your name added for
every comment you leave on the participating blogs.